Dmitry Bivol: Fight Against Kovalev 'Most Likely' Will Happen

By Keith Idec

Dmitry Bivol believes a much-discussed showdown with Sergey Kovalev is in his near future.

The unbeaten WBA light heavyweight champion confirmed on a conference call Wednesday that he still expects to face Kovalev in a 175-pound championship unification fight. A Kovalev-Bivol bout could be next if both boxers win their title defenses August 4 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

“Most likely this fight is gonna happen, since Sergey and I are HBO boxers,” Bivol said through a translator. “And as long as that’s what the people want, most likely the fight will happen. And me and Sergey will make sure to give this fight to the people.”

That two-bout broadcast will mark a second HBO doubleheader that’ll feature Kovalev and Bivol in separate bouts. HBO Sports’ Peter Nelson wants to make Kovalev-Bivol next if the champions win their upcoming fights.

“He’s a very talented guy and maybe in the future we can make a very interesting fight, a unification fight,” Kovalev said recently. “And I’m ready, you know, maybe after this fight. Who knows? I’m ready.”

Published reports last month stated that if Bivol beats Chilemba, he will sign with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing and have his fights streamed on DAZN. Vadim Kornilov, Bivol’s manager, has denied that Bivol has agreed to sign with Hearn.

If Bivol were to join Matchroom and DAZN, it could lead to another title unification fight against Artur Beterbiev.

Russia’s Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KOs), the IBF light heavyweight champion, is scheduled to make his first title defense against England’s Callum Johnson (17-0, 12 KOs) on October 6. DAZN will stream the Beterbiev-Johnson fight from Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.

[QUOTE=SniXSniPe;18949559]Beterbiev, Gvozdyk, Stevenson, Badou Jack, Kovalev, Bivol--- lets ****ing get this division going.[/QUOTE]
There are some great fights in those names, and a loss means nothing. Any fighter could come back just fine by squaring off against other names. This…

[QUOTE=Mammoth;18949516]I assume Hearn worked something out with Yvon Michel for this to even happen[/QUOTE]
Michel must be kicking himself in the azz
A fight like that ( Beterbiev being known in Montreal and waning a belt ) would be damn…

[QUOTE=MulaKO;18949477]Ok , is that right
I guess that’s all part of Dazn
I wonder how Gym feels about that especially after winning their case in court ( mind you they are appealing Beterbiev team )[/QUOTE]
I assume Hearn worked something…